"What happens in Vegas"... Will likely end up on this site. Sorry, Las Vegas Chamber.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

A Chilling Reminder Before #SOTU

As I'm writing this now, the Big Bear standoff continues. Christopher Dorner is apparently barricaded in a cabin there now after shooting two police officers in an earlier gun fight. He likely used semi-automatic rifles, as apparently he began smuggling them after being fired from the Los Angeles Police Department.

Dorner is suspected of murdering two people in Orange County, shooting two Riverside Police Officers & killing one in an armed conflict there, and now shooting two police officers in Big Bear.

Authorities believe Dorner came to the cabin after tying up a couple inside a different cabin off California 38 and stole their white pickup truck Tuesday afternoon. At some point, he engaged in gunfire with California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers who spotted Dorner and attempted to stop the vehicle.

Dorner crashed the truck during the ensuing chase and allegedly exchanged gunfire with the officers as he fled into what appeared to be Martin's cabin, where he was quickly surrounded by San Bernardino sheriff’s deputies. A source said one deputy was struck by a bullet as Dorner fired out of the cabin. A second was injured when Dorner exited the back of the cabin, deployed a smoke bomb and opened fire again in an apparent attempt to flee.

Dorner was driven back inside the cabin, the source said.

The Fish and Wildlife officers were not hurt, authorities said.

There was initial confusion as to where a helicopter should land to evacuate the injured officers, so deputies used their own smoke bombs to provide enough cover to carry the wounded to a pickup truck that took them to the waiting helicopter.

Officers from multiple agencies raced to the scene and continued to surround the cabin. Sources said it was not known if Dorner remained inside or if he fled.

Against this terrifying backdrop, President Obama will be giving his State of the Union Speech. Yet again, Americans are being reminded of the brutal and frightening reality of gun violence throughout the nation. It's just saddening (and maddening) to think of what it's taken to bring this issue to the forefront.

What will the President do to reassure a shaken nation? And what will Congress actually do to solve this problem? We need solutions now more than ever before.

We'll be liveblogging the State of the Union tonight. And tweets will go out @atdleft.

1 comment:

Unless you want to create a European style of law enforcement (Go ahead, please show me where the money and the agreement by Police unions is going to come from) there is going to be no way to stop another Dorner from occurring.